The Islamic Manuscript Association, together with the Thesaurus Islamicus Foundation, Cambridge University Library, and the University of Cambridge’s HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Centre of Islamic Studies, announces its Tenth Annual Intensive Introduction to Islamic Codicology Course, which will be held from 3-7 October 2016 at the Cambridge University Library.

This intensive five-day course will introduce the study of Islamic manuscript codices as physical objects, or the archaeology of the Islamic book. Daily illustrated lectures will provide an overview of writing supports, the structure of quires, ruling and page layout, bookbinding, ornamentation, tools and materials used in book making, and the paleography of book hands. Participants may choose to register for hands-on sessions during which they will examine Islamic manuscripts from Cambridge University Library and complete a series of practical exercises on manuscript description.

The course will be taught by Professor François Déroche, holder of the Chair of History of the Qur’an, Text and Transmission at the Collège de France, and Professor Nuria Martínez de Castilla Muñoz, Professor of the Codicology and History of the Manuscript Book in the Islamicate World, École Pratique des Hautes Études, both leading scholars of Islamic codicology and palaeography.

All instruction will be in English. A scholarship offered by the Centre of Islamic Studies for a participant from the Islamic World is also available. For more information, see www.islamicmanuscript.org